I love this. NBC is attempting to dash Uncle Kenny’s hopes and dreams by scheduling mega counterprogramming all night against the ABC Rising Star premiere on Sunday. Our regular AGT recapper, Eric, won’t be available Sunday night to live blog, and I’ll be busy live blogging Rising Star, but I’ll be sure to at least get up a discussion post with some videos.
Via The Wrap:
ABC’s new live-action singing competition “Rising Star” premieres on Sunday, June 22 at 9/8c. Originally, it was going to face off against a repeat of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in the Eastern half of the country, but not anymore. In a late change, NBC has announced that they will now air a new two-hour installment of “AGT” opposite ABC’s big premiere. And that’s not all. Sunday night will also see a special interstitial program, airing throughout the night’s programming. NBC is sticking with a repeat of “American Ninja Warrior” at 7/6c. The new special will feature two different attempts to break two different Guinness World Records, and it will all be hosted by “AGT” judge Howie Mandel.
One of the record breaking attempts will be made by “Professor Splash” who was an AGT contestant in 2011. He’ll be attempting to set a record for the highest shallow dive into fire. He currently holds the record for highest shallow water dive.
NBC will break into programming all night with the Guinness World Record segments in a bid to keep viewers tuned into NBC, beginning at 7 pm, before Rising Star premieres in the Mountain/Central/Eastern time zones at 9 pm ET on ABC.
The Rising Star cast did press on set after their Bachelorette promo Monday night. From The Hollywood Reporter, a few more details on what to expect from the format of the new singing show:
Unlike other competition shows, decisions on which contestants advance rest almost entirely with the audience from the start. Kesha, Paisley and fellow “expert” Ludacris will each have a vote that counts for 7 percent of a performer’s total. Each act needs at least 70 percent audience approval during the performance of their song to move forward.The first three weeks will feature 10 contestants on each show. Audience members will be able to vote via an app to determine a singer or group’s fate. (Vocal groups with up to five members are allowed to compete).
Following a performance, the experts and host Josh Groban will offer comments on what went right—or wrong—for a performer. As the show progresses over its 10-week run, the experts will spend time with the performers honing their skills.
So, the “experts” will contribute 21% of the votes while acting as mentors to the contestants. Also, Josh Groban will not serve strictly as a host, but also offer critiques and mentoring (but not votes).
